FROM the minimum wage of N30,000 to a proposed minimum wage of N615,000 now put forward by the labour movement, workers will be owed the arrears for April 2024. That is, it had been speculated that the new minimum wage will be announced on May 1, 2024, at the Workers’ Day celebration. For sure, workers have been expecting a living wage as the current minimum wage expired. This is exactly what the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), who had separately before now put forward different figures, done by jointly demanding N615,000 as the country’s minimum wage.
The recent pursuit of the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, by the EFCC for a figure of N84.5 billion is a good example to point to. So, if the country can afford so much more for this gang of looters, how much more workers who lay the golden egg, and it is their sweat that produces the wealth of the country.
The unions have drawn their minimum wage from the current cost of living today. The unions derived their minimum wage benchmark from today’s current cost of living. With electricity tariffs now soaring to N225 per unit from N65, this translates to a heavier economic burden on the working masses. Considering that most working-class households require a minimum of 5 units per night, it is evident that electricity expenses alone will range from N30,000 to N50,000 monthly.
When factoring in other essential expenses such as food, housing, water, healthcare, transportation, education costs, clothing, and communication, for a typical family of five, the cumulative financial burden is substantial. Indeed, it aligns closely with the estimates previously proposed, leaving little to no room for savings or discretionary spending. This dire financial reality underscores the urgent need for comprehensive measures to alleviate the economic strain on working-class households.
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The complete somersault and surrender of the Tinubu regime to implementing the neoliberal programme of deregulation on the oil and gas sector and liberalisation of the exchange rate, leading to further devaluation of the country’s currency, has had a far-reaching negative effect on the economy, with inflation at 34.5%, food inflation at 49.1%, a worsening poverty rate of 38.8%, and unemployment at its worst ever.
With effective Struggle, a better Living Wage is Achievable
With the above scenario, there can be no denying the fact that a new minimum wage is needed. And it is clear that only an effective mobilisation and the demonstration of the full strength of the working class to insist on a living wage will make it attainable. Otherwise, what will transpire eventually is that the Tinubu regime will simply declare a figure that falls significantly short of expectations. While it may constitute an increase, its impact will swiftly diminish once announced, rendering it inconsequential in practice.
For too long, workers have been condemned to poverty wages, misnamed as minimum wage increases; ever since 1981, down to 2018, every new increase since then has actually been a reduction of what was previously earned.
Already, government officials have been quoted as insisting that the tripartite committee, largely dominated by captains of capital, big business, and government reps, with labour only marginally represented, must come out with a figure that employers can afford. This is why it is important to pose the question, is a living wage affordable?
We in the Movement for a Socialist Alternative (MSA) say yes, that Nigeria can afford a living wage for all her workers; the country is rich enough with all of its abundant resources, both natural and human. Indeed, a country that can afford luxurious wages for members of the ruling class making Nigeria’s ruling class, from the presidency to the local government, the highest wage earners in the world. This is aside the fact that governance also provides them with the free meal ticket of looting the treasury. The recent pursuit of the former governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello, by the EFCC for a figure of N84.5 billion is a good example to point to. So, if the country can afford so much more for this gang of looters, how much more workers who lay the golden egg, and it is their sweat that produces the wealth of the country.
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The above indicates that before any new minimum wage, the old value has completely depreciated. An example is the current minimum wage, which when introduced was $85 dollars is now on the current exchange rate of N1,500 amounts to a pittance figure of $20 dollars. Again, too, it is clear that the 1981 minimum wage of N125, with its dollar equivalent of $205, is the highest workers have ever earned in the country. Going by the current dollar rate, a minimum wage of N307,500 will in reality be the wage for 1981.
To put forward the figure of N615,000 as the two leaders of the two trade union centres under Joe Ajaero and Festus Osifo have done is not enough! The labour movement must insist on the necessity of a wage to march the rate of inflation. The workers representative in the tripartite committee constitutes a minority. They therefore must know that success cannot be found inside the committee but outside it. The May Day celebration for 2024 must be used as a means to effectively mobilise workers and prepare them to reject any imposed ridiculous figure.
For too long, workers have been condemned to poverty wages, misnamed as minimum wage increases; ever since 1981, down to 2018, every new increase since then has actually been a reduction of what was previously earned.
While the 1981 minimum wage of N125 going by the dollar rate of N0. 61 kobo amounted to $205 dollars. The Babangida increase of N250 with a dollar at N7.39 kobo amounted to just $33.8 dollars. Next in line was the Abdulsalami Abubakar increase to N3,000 in 1998, with the dollar exchange rate to a naira at N21.89 kobo, giving us $137. Obasanjo, in 2000, increased it to a figure of N5,500 with the dollar rate at N65.98 kobo, the minimum wage amounted to $83.35. In 2011, the Jonathan regime approved a new minimum wage of N18,000, and with a dollar at N154, the value of the monthly wage was $117 dollars. In 2019, the Buhari regime announced a N30,000 minimum wage. A dollar was officially N350 and the average wage earned by workers was $85 dollars.
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The above indicates that before any new minimum wage, the old value has completely depreciated. An example is the current minimum wage, which when introduced was $85 dollars is now on the current exchange rate of N1,500 amounts to a pittance figure of $20 dollars. Again, too, it is clear that the 1981 minimum wage of N125, with its dollar equivalent of $205, is the highest workers have ever earned in the country. Going by the current dollar rate, a minimum wage of N307,500 will in reality be the wage for 1981.
All of the super profits formerly appropriated by the private profiteers will now be justifiably used to meet the needs of the workforce. The MSA also calls for the establishment of a Joint Minimum ACTION Committee at both national and state levels to carry out the necessary action on recalcitrant governors who refuse to pay the new minimum wage. We cannot have a situation where they say they cannot pay and they are living fat. The NLC and TUC must provide the needed leadership to take action against such governors and mobilise other workers in other states for solidarity action so as to prevent a situation like the one in Imo, where the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, was attacked.
The value of today’s minimum wage of N30,000 is 1,025% less than the wage earned by workers in 1981. Please do not mistake it; it is not 125% but 1,025%. Workers must therefore not accept any pretentious appeal that a new wage as demanded by labour will cause inflation. It is clear to all that it is the microeconomic and macroeconomic policies of neoliberal capitalism that is primarily responsible for inflation.
It is the capitalist system organised to meet the greed of a tiny numbers for more and more super profits as opposed to meeting the needs of the working masses that fritters away the resources needed to guarantee a living wage for workers. This is why the MSA continues to insist that workers get organise, get a political party of their own. Reclaim the Labour Party and reposition it as a party of struggle built on a Socialist Alternative manifesto with which the working masses can contend for political power and, by so doing, end the capitalist reign of exploitation and imposition of misery on the working masses.
We call for an effective mobilisation of workers by the trade unions. To educate and prepare workers for the struggle with the Tinubu regime and the employer class in the country over a living wage in the country.
Also, there is the need for the labour leadership to put forward the demand for the government to rightly nationalise and bring into public management any company that claims it is incapable of paying a living wage to workers. With the democratic management of such companies by workers themselves, the account and finances of the company will be opened up for public scrutiny.
All of the super profits formerly appropriated by the private profiteers will now be justifiably used to meet the needs of the workforce. The MSA also calls for the establishment of a Joint Minimum ACTION Committee at both national and state levels to carry out the necessary action on recalcitrant governors who refuse to pay the new minimum wage. We cannot have a situation where they say they cannot pay and they are living fat. The NLC and TUC must provide the needed leadership to take action against such governors and mobilise other workers in other states for solidarity action so as to prevent a situation like the one in Imo, where the NLC President, Joe Ajaero, was attacked.
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The united force of Workers cannot be defeated. A living wage is affordable, and if the ruling elites, headed by the Tinubu regime, feels otherwise, they should vacate office for the working masses to take over power and demonstrate to all, through the democratic control and management of the wealth and resources of the country that a living wage is affordable.
Comrade Dagga Tolar writes from the Movement for Socialist Alternative
